Not This Time
by exploding-penguins
Summary: On the verge of death, Sasuke has an eye-opening conversation with Itachi. Will Sakura be able to make it in time to save Sasuke?


**I had lots of fun writing this! I don't own the Naruto series.**

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Sweat poured down Sakura's forehead as she poured her healing chakra into Naruto. This was bad. Her best friend and teammate was here, dying right in front of her, and she was low on chakra. Sakura was determined to save him. She had to save Naruto, and then Team 7 could go and take down Madara together. She would not let it end like this, no way.

Sakura's concentration was broken by frantic yelling in the distance. Suddenly a woman leapt into view, dashing towards them. Sakura continued pouring her chakra into Naruto as she looked over at the woman. She immediately recognized the woman as Karin. Sakura quickly shook her head to try and rid her mind of the memories trying to come to the surface.

"Sakura! Sakura, you have to come with me _right now!_" Karin shrieked.

It was only then that Sakura noticed the tears streaming down Karin's face. Karin looked as if she was barely holding it together, like she was in a panic. Sakura cursed under her breath. She knew that there were still many people that needed medical assistance, but she needed to save Naruto no matter what. The only other people she trusted to heal him were Tsunade and Shizune, who were quietly watching her work on her teammate. However, they were almost out of chakra themselves.

"Karin, Naruto is badly injured and he needs my full attention. He could die-"

"Sasuke-kun is dying right now, if not already dead! I can't sense his chakra anymore!"Karin sobbed, nearing hysteria at this point.

Sakura froze. She was overcome with so many emotions all at once, and she felt her chest constrict and tears well up in her eyes. She remained silent, willing herself to stay strong and not lose focus. But Sasuke needed her. The man she loved was dying. She needed to save him. But Naruto needed her too. Sakura bit her lip, utterly conflicted.

'Oh my god... Sasuke-kun is dying… Sasuke-kun…' She thought, trying not to cry.

Tsunade, who was standing nearby, saw the confliction written on Sakura's face. Her heart broke for her student. She decided to do something about it. "Sakura."

Sakura sniffled as she looked up at her master. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Release Naruto into my care and go to Sasuke."

Sakura gasped. "A-Are you sure, Tsunade-sama? You're low on chakra…" She tried to argue, but she was really grateful that her master was doing this.

Tsunade put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "I have Shizune here as well. We can take it from here."

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama," she said, standing up and turning towards Karin. "Karin, take me to Sasuke-kun!"

Karin nodded and immediately took off in the other direction, Sakura following closely behind. She would get to Sasuke and save him, no matter what.

Sasuke had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he was surrounded by an abyss of white. What had happened to him? He suddenly remembered everything that had happened that day, and immediately put his hand to his chest. He looked down, and there was no blood. There was no wound. His chest didn't hurt anymore. It was then that Sasuke realized exactly what was going on.

'So this is it. I'm really dead. I'll never be able to become hokage or purify the Uchiha name.' he thought to himself, feeling utterly defeated.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke's head immediately snapped to the direction of the voice. It was so familiar. Could it really be?

"Nii-san?"

Itachi appeared in the abyss and began walking toward Sasuke. He stopped in front of Sasuke, frowning. "Yes, Sasuke. It's me. What happened to you? You're not supposed to be here."

Sasuke sighed and started pacing back and forth, frustrated. "I decided to go to the battlefield and protect the village. I wanted to become the hokage, and make things right. Madara is back and more powerful than ever. An opening seemed to appear, so I tried taking it, but he managed to freeze me in midair. He stabbed me through the heart with my own sword."

Itachi stared at Sasuke, trying to take everything in. 'Madara, that bastard. I hope the alliance kills you.' He thought, bitterly.

"I'm glad you made the right decision, Sasuke. I'm proud of you." Itachi said simply.

Sasuke stopped and looked Itachi in the eye. "You were right, Nii-san. You don't know who you truly are until the moment of your death. It wasn't until I was about to die that I realized just how much the village meant to me, and just how much I care about my teammates."

"Just what are they to you?" Itachi asked, genuinely curious.

Sasuke paused for a moment while he thought about his answer. "Kakashi took me under his wing when I was a genin, and was the one who taught me the Chidori. He was almost like a father figure to me. At first I hated Naruto, but we always seemed to work so well together. Eventually we became best friends, whether we liked it or not. And as for Sakura…" he trailed off.

Itachi raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing as he waited for Sasuke to continue.

"She was just a teammate at first, then a friend. She became someone precious to me, along with the rest of my team. It's… harder to explain exactly what she was to me. She was the one who confronted me when I was leaving the village. She… told me she loved me. I did wrong by everyone on my team, but especially her. I regret it."

Itachi noticed a change in Sasuke's demeanor as he talked about his female teammate, and her confession of love to him. Before he really thought about it, he asked, "Do you love her?"

The question caught Sasuke off guard, and he was stunned speechless for a moment. _Did _he love Sakura? He had always been so wrapped up in his revenge, that he never gave romance much thought, if any. He did want to restore his clan, and to be honest, he really couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather do it with. They'd been through so much together. She was precious to him. He suddenly felt very flustered.

"_No, _I do not love Sakura!" He lied.

Itachi smirked. "Your nose is getting bigger," he said, amused.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away, pouting like a stubborn child. "I'm not lying."

"Sasuke, you're blushing furiously."

"Damn it." Sasuke growled.

Itachi chuckled. "My little brother has his first crush, how cute. If you love her, you should tell her how you feel. She sounds like a nice girl. You deserve to be happy."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head. "What does it matter? There's nothing I can do about it now. There's nothing I can do about anything. I'll never have the chance to right any of my wrongs. I'm dead."

Itachi smiled and walked up to Sasuke, stopping right in front of him. "Not this time, Sasuke." he said, gently tapping Sasuke on the forehead.

"Sasuke-kun, don't you die on me!"

Sasuke heard the muffled voice of a female. What happened? Where was he? He couldn't open his eyes. He was just so tired.

"You're doing great, Sasuke-kun. Come on, stay with me!"

The voice kept talking to him, speaking words of encouragement. His chest hurt, but the pain was going away ever so slowly. He had to find out what was going on. He had to open his eyes.

With some effort, Sasuke finally forced his eyes open. He had a hard time seeing, but he was able to make out a pink blur. It was only then that Sasuke remembered what had just taken place, and realized who the female hovering over him was.

"Sakura…" he said, weakly.

Sakura continued pouring her healing chakra into his chest, but smiled brightly upon hearing him speak her name. "I'm right here, Sasuke-kun. Don't talk. You need to save your energy. You're going to be okay."

Sasuke was able to give a weak smile, before allowing his eyes to drift closed. He needed to rest. He was just so worn out. He was grateful that even after everything, Sakura was there when he needed her most. It was at that moment that Sasuke decided he would make up for everything he had done to her. Once the war was won, he would have a long talk with Sakura and gladly spend the rest of his life making her feel special. It was then that he was able to admit to himself that he did in fact love the pinkette.

"Sakura, arigato."

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